Not On a White Horse
by Myth Keeper
Summary: AU -- "Like your own prince on a white horse?" "Yeah...like that." Numerous pairings.


Disclaimer: Beyblade doesn't belong to me.  
  
AN: A bit about my OCs to prevent confusion further on in the story if I forget. Rhiannon is Chinese. Rhiannon is not adopted, therefore her entire family is Chinese. And just to screw things up for any visitors at their house, her grandparents do not speak English. So if there are ever any visiting scenes, the Chinese will be translated into English and written in italics. And no, 'Lin' is not me mixing up my characters. That is going to be Rhiannon's Chinese name. 'Ah' is just a random word that has no particular meaning, but Chinese people tend to use in front of people's names, if they're close. Kinda like how the Japanese use -chan. Since her grandparents don't speak English, it'd make more sense for them to call her by her Chinese name, ne?  
  
I think that's about it.Hope you like my story! It's my first.^_^  
  
Not On a White Horse  
  
Chapter 01  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
17-year-old Rhiannon stared up at the stucco ceiling of her bedroom, trying to block out the discordant sounds of the arguing voices downstairs. Lying on top of the blankets of her bed, one arm clutched a stuffed bear, the other reaching up to fall over her eyes, rubbing her temples.  
  
There was a loud slam, and then silence. In a few moments, there was a second slam of the door.  
  
"Ree!" The door of her room slammed open, as a dark-haired boy ran in. "Ree, I'm hungry!"  
  
"Ever heard of knocking, kid?" Rhiannon sighed, not turning her head to look at her younger brother. "Go make yourself a sandwich.  
  
"Rhi-ANN-on." he whined.  
  
"I don't see why you can't make anything yourself," Rhiannon grumbled, swinging her legs off the bed and dumping the bear she had been holding unceremoniously onto the bed. "Go clean up your room."  
  
"But I'm hungry."  
  
"Daniel, if you don't go clean your room RIGHT NOW, you'll be hungry for the rest of the day," Rhiannon growled, shoving him out of her room and down the hall. "Get moving."  
  
Knowing that he probably wouldn't do anything, but was at least out of the way, Rhiannon stumbled down the stairs, growling under her breath all the time. Complaining all the way, Rhiannon cooked macaroni and cheese for her little brother. It wasn't healthy, but it was easy to make, and Daniel liked it. Calling her brother down when it was ready, she ate a sandwich herself, scanning over the newspaper at the same time. Daniel ate quickly, before running out of the room.  
  
Lost, white Arabian gelding. Last seen Riverdale Ridge area. Reward offered. Phone 576-1831.  
  
Rhiannon stared at the ad, a delicate eyebrow arched in surprise and curiosity. An actual horse? A lost white horse? Riverdale area.that was where that stable was. That horse must have jumped a fence or something. About half an hour away driving distance. Ashleigh would like going there. She had always wanted riding lessons.  
  
"Ah Lin, don't you have to go to work?"  
  
Rhiannon blinked, jerking out of her reverie before turning her attention to the aged woman standing in front of her. "Huh?" she replied intelligently.  
  
"Ah Lin, look at the clock."  
  
"OH SHIT!" Rhiannon shrieked, shooting upright. "Thanks Grandma. I'll see you tonight!" Picking up the backpack that hung on the back of a nearby chair, she flung it across her back, dashing out the door.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Seiko! Come on, wake up! SEIKO!"  
  
"Hnnn?" came the sluggish rejoinder. The slender girl sat up from her slumped over position, brushing jet-black hair back from her face, sleepy golden eyes blinking. "What's wrong?"  
  
"What's wrong? I told you the Hiwataris are coming to visit, and you're asleep!"  
  
"But Mom, I just got back from Japan! Let me sleep." Seiko complained, slouching back down in the armchair.  
  
"Sleeping? Beds exist for a reason! Help clean up! Don't just laze around!" Seiko's mother exclaimed.  
  
"I'm tired! Why can't I just sleep? The house is clean already! And nobody told you to invite them anyway," Seiko groaned, slumping back down in the armchair.  
  
"Look at how you're sleeping! You're going to get humpbacked! And clean? You leave your things all over the house! You already have your own room! Keep your own things in your own room! Or I'll take your brother's advice and throw them out!" With a final sniff, her mother exited from the room.  
  
Seiko had been sleeping with her legs thrown over one side of the arm chair, her head resting on the arm-rest of the other side, her arms hugging a cushion. With a roll of her eyes, the dark-haired girl slumped back down, going back to sleep.  
  
"Don't sleep here! You'll get in everyone's way! If you want to sleep, go to your room."  
  
"Aw Dad.can't you two just let me sleep in peace?" Seiko groaned, rolling off the armchair completely in an attempt to stand.  
  
"Seiko," her dad began, with an exasperated sigh. "We are busy. You are lying around doing nothing. The least you can do is stay in your room to be out of the way."  
  
"Fine, fine," Seiko sighed, dropping the cushion and slipping past her father. Taking the steps two at a time, she slammed the door of her room behind her, jumping onto her bed. About to fall asleep again, she was interrupted by the ringing of her cellphone.  
  
"Hello?" Seiko asked, her head hanging off the bed, making her voice slightly strangled.  
  
"Seiko, are you alright? You sound.funny."  
  
"Kendra? Yep, fine, just hanging off the bed right now," Seiko answered, her countenance brightening as she sat up. "What's up?"  
  
"Nothin' really, just bored. How about you?"  
  
"Getting yelled at. Same old, same old. Too much sleeping, not enough working. I should be offended. I have summer jobs. But I'm usually too preoccupied with sleeping to be offended.oh well," Seiko replied brightly. "So, having fun?"  
  
"Going out to see a movie. Heard you're going to have company tonight," Kendra answered.  
  
"Yep, much fun. Call me later tonight so I can whine. Do I sleep too much?" Seiko added irrelevantly.  
  
"Sleep too much? There's no such thing as too much sleep," Kendra laughed.  
  
"True. Very true. Remember to call me! It's even ruder to disappear to make your own calls," Seiko urged.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. I'll call when I get home," Kendra replied. "What's wrong with people coming over?"  
  
"In case you've forgotten, or the aliens that abduct you have wiped all your memories, the world is overpopulated by idiots. And I don't appreciate other people talking about me in general, and in case you don't remember, I'm not exactly friends with Kai Hiwatari," Seiko sighed.  
  
"Oh, the guy with the funny things on his face, right? I could've sworn Ree said that.oh well, never mind. And the aliens that abduct me don't wipe my memories, they only modify them."  
  
"Same difference," Seiko answered carelessly. "So, what are you doing?"  
  
"Trying to figure out how many of my posters will fit on the ceiling."  
  
"MORE Lord of the Rings posters? Isn't it scary enough to have them staring at you all around?"  
  
"Is it scary to have all your anime things staring at you?"  
  
"Good point. But I still don't think I'll stick them on the ceiling."  
  
"Look how much room you still have on the walls!"  
  
"Yep. I don't exactly get an allowance? And anime rarely appears in newspapers."  
  
"Let's not talk about anime anymore. I don't want to talk about people with high squeaky voices."  
  
"You liked Spirited Away!"  
  
"Let's just not go there."  
  
"Chht. Coward. Anyway-" Whatever Seiko's statements may have been were interrupted as she heard the unmistakable crunch of car tires on gravel. "Shit. Wish me luck, they're here."  
  
"Have fun. See ya."  
  
"Bye." Clipping her cell phone to the hem of her jeans, Seiko tucked her hair back behind her ears, and ran out of her room, sliding down the banister of the stairs to nearly collide with her mother, who was going to answer the door.  
  
"Seiko, how many times do I have to tell you not to slide down the banister?" she sighed as she walked past her teenaged daughter. "Hello Winnie!"  
  
"Serena! Haven't seen you in a while!" Mrs. Hiwatari replied cheerfully. "Hello Seiko!"  
  
"Hello Mrs. Hiwatari," Seiko replied politely.  
  
"Seiko, Kai's here too! Why don't you two go amuse yourselves? We grown-ups will be fine!" Mrs. Hiwatari laughed, pulling her blue-haired son forward. "Come on Kai, don't be shy, you two have known each other for a long time!"  
  
"Yes Seiko, why don't you and Kai find something to do?" Seiko's mother added. "Come on Kim!"  
  
Seiko blinked, staring after the departing adults, at the impassive teenager in front of her, and at the ground, all the while cursing the fates and anything else she could think of.  
  
"If you want to use the computer, I have one in my room you could use.?" Seiko offered hesitantly. What the hell am I doing? I don't want some blue- faced freak that could pass as undead bovine in my room! Adults are idiots. Idiots, idiots, idiots. In fact, everyone else is an idiot! Argh!  
  
"In your room?" Kai asked, smirking.  
  
"My brother would kill me if he found out anyone touched his computer. That's the only one left in the house," Seiko said, forcing her face to remain perfectly blank. He's smirking! I want to KILL that guy! And just about everyone else in this house while I go on a mass murdering spree.  
  
"Hn," Kai replied, still smirking. "So, where's your room?"  
  
"Upstairs," Seiko forced out between gritted teeth. Oh great, I think he thinks I'm trying to make a move on him. I hate my life. Hate, hate, hate, hate, HATE. I wonder if there are any bridges nearby I can throw myself off? With similar thoughts running around inside her mind, she began the now suddenly much longer trek upstairs.  
  
Shoving the door to her room open ill-temperedly, she picked up the various articles littered about her desk, tossing them to the other side of the room, and removing her backpack from her chair. Tossing her backpack in the corner, she picked up the articles that she had tossed off her desk, shoving them into her closet, before turning and realizing that she had a certain piece of clothing lying on her bed that she was not exactly looking forward for her "visitor" to see. Namely, her bra!  
  
Turning a brilliant shade of red, she shoved the offending item under her blanket. Looking up to see Kai's raised eyebrow and smirk, she blushed even harder, grabbing a book off the bedside table, curling up on her bed, and hiding her face behind the book. A few moments later, the rapid clacking of keys informed her that Kai had presumably began to use her computer. Yanking a large stuffed bear from under the covers of her bed, she placed it on her lap, resting her chin on its head, and began to read.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Hey Ree, you alright?"  
  
Said girl looked more than slightly annoyed at the moment, and was glaring at the bookshelves. If looks could kill, the shelves would have been a mere pile of ashes. Wisps of her black hair had escaped from her customary ponytail, framing her face. Large, dark brown eyes averted their gaze at the books, turning to the dark haired girl who had spoken.  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"You're glaring at the books. I thought you liked reading.?" the girl answered, her lavender eyes amused.  
  
"I do like reading, Kendra. It's just that people are so damn annoying! Leaving books all over the place.hafta run around and stick'em all back, and then in the middle of caring a huge stack of book, some idiot will come up and ask where books are, and then I have to show them all around, and then continue sticking books back just to be interrupted, again," Rhiannon sighed, one hand reaching up to brush her hair out of her eyes.  
  
"Bad-mouthing your customers? That's not a very smart thing to do," a mocking voice said.  
  
Rhiannon sighed, then turned, her gaze resting upon a smirking red-haired boy, with brilliant turquoise eyes. "How may I help you?" she asked.  
  
"Erm.my shift's over. See ya later, Ree," Kendra muttered, backing away and stepping through the door marked 'Staff Only'.  
  
"Tala, leave Rhiannon alone!"  
  
"Jordan?" Rhiannon exclaimed. "What are you doing inside a bookstore?"  
  
"Because my idiot cousin wanted to come.?" Jordan answered, flicking blonde hair back behind her shoulder, her brilliant green eyes rolling expressively.  
  
"Just when I think I know somebody, they remind me how untrue that is. See ya," Rhiannon sighed, following Kendra through the door.  
  
"You know that girl?" Tala asked, looked after Rhiannon strangely.  
  
"Yeah, she goes to my school," Jordan replied, staring at him suspiciously. "Tala, please. Anyway, she's not your type. Come on Tala, I don't want to be here," Jordan complained, latching onto her cousin's arm and looking at him with the most pathetic face she could muster. "I'll die!"  
  
"Figures," Tala grinned, shaking his head at her dramatics. "Just let me pay for the book and then we can leave."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I'm back!" Rhiannon called as she stepped into the house, her eyes narrowing in perplexion as an almost completely silent house welcomed her. The faint hum of the television drew her to the living room, Daniel sitting on the couch, pausing the video game as she entered the room.  
  
"Grandma and Grandpa went out, but are coming back soon, Dad's still at work, and Ashleigh came back, and then she went out too, and she called to say that she's sleeping over at a friend's house," Daniel recited immediately.  
  
"WHAT?" Rhiannon took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Did Ashleigh say who her friend was?"  
  
"Nope," the eight-year-old answered.  
  
"Was she the last person who called?"  
  
"No. Dad called to say that he wouldn't be home for dinner. He has a meeting," Daniel replied, smiling up at her. "Play with me?"  
  
"In a bit. Are you hungry?" Rhiannon replied, glancing at her wristwatch.  
  
"No. Grandma left some food in the fridge for me. If you want, you can eat some of mine," Daniel replied, with all the innocence of his eight years. "I don't mind."  
  
"I ate already. Want me to play right now, or can you wait a bit?" Rhiannon answered, smiling indulgently.  
  
"Now!" Daniel cheered, moving over to the side and holding up another controller towards her.  
  
The ringing of the phone interrupted the game once more. Giving her brother an apologetic pat on the head, Rhiannon reached over to answer the call.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hello, Ree? It's Mariah!"  
  
"Yeah, what's up?"  
  
"Nothing much. Oliver wanted to do a little reunion thing before school started, want to come?"  
  
"I don't know.when is it? I'll try to see if I have time."  
  
"This Saturday. And Jordan wanted all the girls to have a sleepover at her place after."  
  
"Tomorrow? You love giving me notice ahead of time. Anyway, I'm not sure.I'll give you a call later, alright?"  
  
"Just try, okay? Haven't seen you in a long time."  
  
"You saw me two weeks ago. Not that long. Anyway, later."  
  
"Bye."  
  
"Hi Grandma!" Daniel said, as the aged woman stepped into the door.  
  
"Who was that?"  
  
"Grandma? Oh, that was Mariah. Are you going to be home Saturday and Sunday?" Rhiannon asked hopefully.  
  
"Saturday and Sunday? What are you doing going out so much?" her grandmother asked suspiciously.  
  
"There's a sleepover thing.so I'll be back sometime on Sunday.?" Rhiannon pleaded, her fingers crossed behind her back.  
  
"Hm. Don't get too wild," her grandmother said grudgingly.  
  
"Thanks," Rhiannon grinned as she got up. Stooping down, she kissed her grandma on the cheek before running upstairs, already pulling out her cell phone and dialing a number. "Mariah?"  
  
"You can go? Alright!" Mariah cheered.  
  
"Go where? Who is it?" a faint voice came from the background.  
  
"Tell Rei I said hi."  
  
"Ree says hi. Now leave me alone while I talk. Rei!"  
  
"Have fun with Rei. I'll talk to someone else. Seiko's back from Japan, right?"  
  
"Rei! Stop it! Yeah, I think so. Oh, call and tell her, I think I forgot."  
  
"Sure thing. Bye."  
  
Rhiannon rolled her eyes as she ended the call, and began to dial Seiko's number. Some people just couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other.  
  
"Moshi moshi?" a sleepy voice said.  
  
"Seiko? It's Ree. Oliver's having some kinda reunion tomorrow, and then Jordan's having a sleepover after. Can you make it?"  
  
"If I can wake up. I'm really, really tired. Sleepover, eh? Just don't make me stay up and talk. I need all the sleep I can get.do I need to call anyone and confirm?"  
  
"Not sure. If you can, call Jordan, and Oliver or Kendra, I guess. Too tired to talk?"  
  
"Sleepy. If I suddenly don't answer, I'm asleep and you can hang up. My parents are SO annoying! I just get back, and then it turns out the Hiwataris are over. Can't they give me a break?"  
  
"You have no idea how many people would kill to grow up with Kai and have their parents so close, do you?"  
  
"Do I care? Unlike most girls, I'm not utterly obsessed over him. He can be okay, but there's no way I'd drool like that. Besides, it'd just be gross."  
  
"I'm no-"  
  
"WAIT A MINUTE! I'M COMING!"  
  
Rhiannon winced at the deafening shout. "Ouch. Mind not doing that?"  
  
"Sorry, I forgot. I gotta go. See ya."  
  
"Forgetting isn't a good enough excuse when I'm deaf. Bye." Rhiannon rolled over, tossing the phone carelessly onto her bedside table, and turning on the lamp and radio, her fingers tapping out the rhythm on her knee. Her taste for rock music had been introduced by Kendra, and she in turn had 'converted' Seiko. A smile twitched at her lips as she thought about her two best friends that she had grown up with. The three mischief-makers had been dubbed 'The Terrible Trio', for all the mayhem they had caused.  
  
Her thoughts flickered back to the boy in the bookstore. Tala, if she recalled correctly, Jordan's cousin, apparently. He was good-looking, she had to admit, but he definitely looked too full of himself. Like Kai. She could've sworn that Kai had something for Seiko, seeing how he acted sometimes, but then, he was the guy with a different girl every three days. And speaking of her friend's romances, since when were Oliver's opinions so important to Kendra anyway? Oliver was her good friend too, but she still thought that he looked a bit.well.feminine.  
  
At the moment, however, sleep called, and sleep was something she needed. Anything else could be thought about later, though of course, she'd probably forget when she woke up. 


End file.
